Melissa Conyears Ervin

Melissa Conyears-Ervin (born August 23, 1975)^[1] is an American politician and the current Chicago City Treasurer.^[2] She was previously a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 10th District since 2017. The 10th district includes all or parts of West Garfield Park, East Garfield Park, United Center, Ukrainian Village, River West, Goose Island, Wicker Park and Lincoln Park in Chicago.^[3][4]

Melissa Conyears-Ervin
Conyears-Ervin in 2019
City Treasurer of Chicago
Incumbent
Assumed office May 20, 2019
Preceded by	Kurt Summers
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 10th district
In office January 11, 2017 – May 20, 2019
Preceded by	Pamela Reaves-Harris
Succeeded by	Jawaharial Williams
Personal details
Born	(1975-08-23) August 23, 1975 (age 49) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jason Ervin
Education	Eastern Illinois University (BS) Roosevelt University (MBA)

Biography

Conyears-Ervin earned a Master of Business Administration from Roosevelt University. Prior to her political career, she worked in the insurance industry at both Allstate. and CS Insurance Strategies.^[5]

In 2023 Conyears-Ervin faced an ethics investigation into allegations surrounding abuse of power.^[6] Former employees alleged her of requiring staff to perform personal tasks including planning birthday parties, grocery shopping, and forcing BMO Harris Bank to provide a mortgage for her husband, Chicago Alderman Jason Ervin.^[7][8]

Electoral history

Illinois State House

2016 Democratic Primary
Illinois House of Representatives District 10^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melissa Conyears	19,769	100.0%
Total votes			19,769

2016 General election
Illinois House of Representatives District 10^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melissa Conyears	35,858	83.8
	Republican	Mark Spongardi	6,911	16.2
Total votes			42,769

2018 Democratic Primary
Illinois House of Representatives District 10^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melissa Conyears	12,396	100.0%
Total votes			12,396

2018 General election
Illinois House of Representatives District 10^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melissa Conyears	31,649	100.0%
Total votes			31,649

Chicago City Treasurer

2019 Chicago City Treasurer election[13][14][15][16]
Candidate	First round		Runoff
	Vote	%	Vote	%
Melissa Conyears-Ervin	225,385	44.26%	296,293	59.38%
Ameya Pawar	211,759	41.59%	202,714	40.62%
Peter Gariepy	72,068	14.15%	—	—
Write-in	4	0.00%	—	—